Lung and Bronchus Cancer Rates by State, 2007

Rank	Male Incidence	Rate per 100,000	Male Deaths	Rate per 100,000	Female Incidence	Rate per 100,000	Female Deaths	Rate per 100,000
1	Kentucky	123.9	Kentucky	100.7	Kentucky	78.5	Kentucky	55.6
2	Mississippi	117.4	Mississippi	98.2	W. Virginia	73.2	W. Virginia	50.8
3	Arkansas	111.8	Tennessee	91.5	Maine	65.4	Delaware	50.3
4	West Virginia	108.0	Alabama	90.2	Vermont	65.2	Nevada	48.6
5	Oklahoma	106.3	West Virginia	87.6	Delaware	64.1	Vermont	48.3
6	Tennessee	103.2	Oklahoma	85.4	Michigan	63.0	Oklahoma	48.3
7	Alabama	101.1	Arkansas	84.7	Oklahoma	62.4	New Hampshire	48.0
8	Missouri	98.0	Indiana	81.4	Indiana	62.2	Arkansas	47.3
9	Louisiana	97.7	Louisiana	80.5	Missouri	61.6	Tennessee	47.2
10	N. Carolina	96.3	N. Carolina	80.2	Rhode Island	61.6	Indiana	47.0
11	Rhode Island	96.0	Missouri	79.1	Tennessee	60.8	Maine	46.5
12	Indiana	95.8	S. Carolina	78.8	Connecticut	60.0	Missouri	46.5
13	Maine	94.9	Ohio	78.0	Illinois	59.9	Montana	45.9
14	Georgia	92.9	Georgia	76.8	Arkansas	59.8	Ohio	45.6
15	S. Carolina	92.4	Rhode Island	71.6	Louisiana	59.3	Michigan	45.0
16	Ohio	90.3	Maine	70.4	Pennsylvania	59.0	Washington	44.6
17	Delaware	89.3	Michigan	70.3	N. Carolina	58.7	Alaska	43.9
18	Illinois	88.5	Alaska	70.0	Montana	58.6	Illinois	43.9
19	Pennsylvania	87.5	Kansas	70.0	Massachusetts	58.6	Rhode Island	43.8
20	Kansas	85.8	Virginia	69.9	Oregon	57.7	Louisiana	43.4
21	Michigan	85.7	Pennsylvania	68.6	New Hampshire	57.3	Massachusetts	42.9
22	Iowa	81.5	Illinois	68.4	Ohio	56.9	Oregon	42.8
23	New Hampshire	80.5	Iowa	67.8	New Jersey	56.6	N. Carolina	41.8
24	Virginia	80.5	Vermont	67.7	Iowa	56.2	Wyoming	41.6
25	Texas	79.7	Delaware	66.2	Georgia	56.1	Maryland	41.2
26	Nebraska	79.4	Nebraska	66.1	Florida	55.9	Virginia	41.2
27	Florida	78.6	S. Dakota	64.1	Washington	55.4	Iowa	41.1
28	Vermont	77.6	Texas	63.4	Mississippi	55.4	Alabama	40.9
29	Connecticut	76.2	Maryland	63.2	Alabama	55.1	Mississippi	40.5
30	Alaska	76.2	Massachusetts	62.6	New York	54.7	Pennsylvania	40.2
31	New York	76.1	District of Columbia	61.5	Nebraska	54.5	Connecticut	40.1
32	New Jersey	76.1	Wisconsin	61.4	Maryland	54.2	S. Carolina	39.9
33	Maryland	74.2	Florida	60.5	S. Carolina	53.3	Georgia	39.7
34	S. Dakota	73.8	New Hampshire	60.4	Kansas	52.3	Florida	39.2
35	Massachusetts	72.0	Nevada	60.1	Minnesota	50.6	New Jersey	39.0
36	Montana	71.7	Oregon	59.1	Wisconsin	50.5	Wisconsin	38.9
37	N. Dakota	71.6	Montana	59.1	Virginia	49.1	Kansas	37.6
38	Wisconsin	71.2	New Jersey	58.9	Texas	48.4	District of Columbia	37.5
39	Hawaii	68.4	Minnesota	57.9	Alaska	48.2	Minnesota	36.9
40	District of Columbia	68.3	Washington	56.6	Arizona	47.3	New York	36.7
41	Oregon	68.2	New York	55.0	Idaho	47.2	Nebraska	36.5
42	Minnesota	67.1	Connecticut	54.4	Colorado	45.9	Texas	36.0
43	Washington	66.5	N. Dakota	52.8	Wyoming	45.7	Idaho	34.1
44	Idaho	64.1	Wyoming	52.3	S. Dakota	43.9	S. Dakota	34.0
45	California	59.8	Idaho	51.3	California	43.7	California	32.9
46	Arizona	58.3	Hawaii	50.0	District of Columbia	42.0	N. Dakota	32.5
47	Colorado	57.7	Arizona	48.6	N. Dakota	41.7	Colorado	32.1
48	New Mexico	53.4	California	48.5	New Mexico	37.3	Arizona	31.8
49	Wyoming	49.1	New Mexico	46.2	Hawaii	37.0	New Mexico	31.1
50	Utah	32.0	Colorado	45.2	Utah	21.6	Hawaii	25.2
51	*	*	Utah	26.4	*	*	Utah	18.5

* No incidence rates reported for Nevada.

 

 

Comparing Cancer Data

When reviewing a state’s lung cancer rates, it is common for people to question and look for explanations as to why their state has a higher incidence or death rate as compared to other states or to the national average. The following points should be kept in mind when comparing these rankings.

• Racial and Ethical Population Differences

  Certain cancers have different incidence rates for different racial and ethnic populations, for instance, breast cancer incidence rates are typically higher in white women than in women of other racial and ethnic populations, while prostate cancer incidence rates are higher in black men. Therefore, when making comparisons of cancer rates across states, the racial makeup of the state’s population must be taken into account.

• Population and Health Behaviors

  Some differences in cancer rates among states may be explained by differences in known risk factors among the populations of those states, for example, higher rates of lung cancer are found in states with higher smoking rates. Although environmental carcinogens may be responsible for some cancer cases, the majority of cases appear to be lifestyle related.

• Differences in Medical Care

  Variations in medical care among states may also result in differences in cancer rates. In states where higher percentages of people participate in cancer screenings, more cancers are diagnosed early when prognosis is often better.

• Influence of Aging

  The likelihood of cancer increases with age therefore rates are adjusted for age so that states can be compared without regard to the differences in the age distribution of their populations.

• Measuring Burden

  The importance of cancer as a public health problem in a state is more the absolute rate of cancer rather than the state’s relative ranking in incidence or mortality. For example, Utah has proportionately fewer smokers than other states and also has the lowest lung cancer incidence among the states however, in Utah more people die from lung cancer than from any other cancer.

• Completeness of Incidence Data

  States contribute cancer incidence data if their registries collected 90% or more of the cancers diagnosed. Because states vary in their completeness from 90% - 100%, rankings may vary slightly because of differences in reporting completeness.